Rebuilding the Ruins: Yom Kippur. 24

 Rebuilding the Ruins

Sermon for Yom Kippur 2024

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

As has been my custom for many years, on Yom Kippur I always speak about Israel. Last year, I focused on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was an important anniversary, and I wanted to mark it by looking not only at the remarkable victory that it was, but also at what led up to it. 

I find myself in a similar position today, as I think about the October 7 War, just one year after that awful, dark Shabbat, a day that will forever be etched in our memory.

A few days ago I happened to hear the beautiful Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now.” The words “Well, something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day” have always been meaningful to me and, through the years, never lost their relevance for me. But as I was hearing the song for the umpteenth time just the other day, I couldn’t help but think about the past year—how much was lost, and what was gained since October 7, 2023. Some things just can’t be measured and maybe that’s the way it should be. But I know that this year something deep and fundamental within me has felt broken, and though I’ve been trying to rebuild, I find myself a lot less confident than I was before. In this terrible and challenging year we’ve all learned some valuable lessons about the Jewish People, the State of Israel, and about antisemitism, the oldest hatred in human history, and it has shaken us to the core.

Though the October 7 War isn’t over yet, we can probably be pretty certain of at least three things: First: Israel will win this war. It will win because it has no choice. Secondly: If we were ever in doubt, this past year has given us plenty of proof that Israel is still surrounded by enemies sworn to destroy it, and unless something drastic happens, will remain so—at least for the foreseeable future. And third: That antisemitism, the world’s longest and most violent hatred, which for a while seemed to have gone underground, is back, more virulent and widespread than ever. It never left us, and apparently, never will.

It began in the predawn hours with a horrendous massacre, a sickening crime against humanity, and specifically the Jewish People, so horrible and evil that it’s still impossible to describe it in words. The sheer numbers of the men, women, infants and the elderly who were kidnapped, brutalized and killed in the most horrific ways, say much in themselves; but the personal stories of their lives, encompass whole worlds. And still it continues. Hundreds of rockets and missiles still rain on Israel every day while worldwide, the finger-pointing and blame directed at Israel also continue unabated, both on the street level and from international bodies and governments.

What are the repercussions of all this for us, American Jews?

On Yom Kippur we speak of engaging in cheshbon ha-nefesh, an accounting of the soul. We assess not our possessions and material worth, but our spiritual wellness. Traditionally, this day is about us and our relationship to God. God asks us to account for our lives, and we must answer. Today, however, on this particular Yom Kippur, we too have some penetrating questions to ask—not only of ourselves, but also of God, and Israel.

Israel has always claimed that its most important purpose is to defend the Jewish People. On October 7th 2023, Israel failed to do that. Only days before the onslaught of terror, on Yom Kippur exactly one year ago, I said from this bimah, “Despite the current infighting within Israel itself, Israel’s political and military leaders have learned to cooperate more fully among themselves… Israel will never again be caught unprepared.” Well, I was wrong. In the months before October 7, 2023, political strife and social discord in Israel were at fever pitch. Demonstrations for and against the government were taking place almost daily. In the K’nesset—Israel’s parliament— harsh rhetoric over proposed legal reforms threatened to bring the government down, and only some pretty devious political machinations saved it, with the appointment of several arrogant and self-serving politicians to powerful cabinet positions for which they were, in an understatement, unqualified. The social, cultural and economic fissures in Israel’s society seemed wider and deeper than ever, and more than once turned violent. Distracted by all that was happening, Israel paid no attention to the gathering storm. It’s no wonder that Israel’s enemies saw this as a sign of weakness, and took advantage of it. 

A year ago I failed to see the obvious, and so did Israel.

Despite the lessons learned from the Yom Kippur War, Israel found itself unprepared for the October 7 attack. To be sure, there were signs, gathered for weeks in advance, both through direct visual observation and data analysis. But they were ignored, or as the government claimed, “misinterpreted.” We will never understand why, for example, the authorities permitted a mass dance party to take place when—even given some reasonable doubt—we knew that terrorists were gathering by the thousands a mere three miles away. We will also probably never know why emergency calls weren’t answered, and why it took the IDF hours to arrive on the scene of the party and at the kibbutzim that were also ravaged that morning. 

Today we see the heroism of the IDF soldiers. We witness daily evidence of their astounding courage, motivation and self-sacrifice. We marvel at the exploits of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, when thousands of pagers explode simultaneously in the hands of terrorists, and when terrorist leaders are pinpointed with absolute precision for attack and elimination. With deep appreciation and gratitude we also know exactly to what extent Israel was given life-saving support by President Biden and the United States. That will never be forgotten. 

Still, when this war is finally over, when the horror ends and the grief turns to rage, there will be some serious cheshbon ha-nefesh, with Israel having to answer and account for its earlier failures. 

And the time will also come when we, American Jews, will have to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Jews have always been divided in our views about Israel. There was a time when Reform Judaism abrogated altogether the two-thousand-year-old Zionist principle of a return to Israel, and, in at least one infamous case, expelled from its ranks three rabbis who dared to express their opinion that Zionism was a valid form of Jewish self-expression. Today, we need to ask ourselves where we stand on this issue. 76 years after the historic establishment of the State of Israel, at a time when Israel’s very existence is questioned and attacked, what should our response be? Shall we hide? Pretend we aren’t affected? Or stand up for the only Jewish state in the world, for the only country that—as a nation—upholds the same ideals and principles that we do? 

When we hold up signs and banners that say “Never Again,” what exactly do we mean? Is it a theoretical postulate or a call to action? We Jews have always prided ourselves on our idealism, on our commitment to the highest values of humanitarianism. Yet when we see the tragedies unfolding daily in our own, historical, ancient homeland, do we turn a blind eye? Where do we stand when it comes to self-defense?

Ironically, the Oct. 7 War has failed to draw Israelis together. Strident rallies and demonstrations are still taking place; dividing lines are still clear and obvious. On the first anniversary of the war’s outbreak only a few days ago, there were actually TWO memorial services in Israel, one organized by the government, the other by its opponents. Still, maybe because we are such a small people; maybe because of our common history and fate; and maybe because we realize the seriousness of the existential threat that Israel is facing, Israelis today are more determined than ever. Along with the slogan Am Yisrael Chai, “the People of Israel lives,” the most common and frequently heard theme in Israel today is ביחד ננצח, “together we will win.” This call for unity is found in popular songs, in art, in memes and even on stickers you can order online.

Whether we, Diaspora Jews, uphold the same ideal, ביחד—together—alongside our brothers and sisters in Israel is a question that all of us need to ask ourselves today. When the war is over—and God willing, may that be soon! — will we be there for Israel, as Israel until now, has been there for us? Today Israel needs us more than ever. It needs us for moral support. It’s in desperate need of our loving embrace and understanding of what it has been going through every day for more than a year now. And even without considering the tragic loss in life; the broken lives, families and homes; the missing hostages; the empty seats around the holiday and Shabbat tables, when this war is over Israel will need our help to rebuild. Israel’s prosperous economy has taken a huge hit. Tourism, one of Israel’s chief industries, is basically non-existent at this point. With ordinary civilians mobilizing in huge numbers in response to the tzav sh’mone—the call to military duty—that they’ve received, factories, restaurants and stores have had to shut down. Homes, neighborhoods, kibbutzim and other settlements that were destroyed by missiles and fires will have to be rebuilt. Fields and orchards will have to be replanted. Physical and emotional care for the returning fighters will take years—and millions of dollars, not to mention the blessed work provided by doctors, nurses and other caretakers who are critically overburdened at this point as is. Will we be there to help Israel recuperate and get on its feet again? 

The answer has to be clear and obvious to all of us. Hineni—here I am.

And then, with all that in mind, there’s still one question we need an answer for, one cheshbon—account—to settle. This one is with God. Every year on Yom Kippur we hear God’s call for us to return, and year after year, we obey. Today a call comes from deep within us. עד מתי? How long, O God? When will the hate and persecution end? How many more lives will it take? 

I guess I won’t hold my breath for this one. Bigger, better and smarter people than I have been asking this same question for millennia now. And the answer is always the same. It’s either, “What do you know—or expect to know—about Me and My plans?” Or: “I’ve given you all the tools you need; now go and make it happen yourselves.”

The first answer is almost useless to me. I don’t know what’s in God’s mind; I won’t pretend that I do. We do, however, have all the tools we need. We just have to learn how to use them. 

“Well, something’s gained and something’s lost in living every day.

It’s been one year since the Oct. 7 onslaught of terror, 370 days to be exact. 51 years since the Yom Kippur War; 79 years since the Shoah. And now what? What have we learned?

Only the future will tell, a future we can help shape and form by the choices we make today.

Am Yisrael chai—the People of Israel lives. Adonai oz l’amo yiten; Adonai y’varech et amo bashalom: May God give us strength; may God also bless us with peace. Ken y’hi ratzon—may this be God’s will.

L’shana tova tikavevu t’teichateimu—may we all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a year of health, strength, love and peace.

© 2024 by Boaz D. Heilman

The Strength Within Us: Rosh Hashanah sermon.24

The Strength Within Us

Sermon for Rosh HaShanah 5785

October 3, 2024

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

Flying into Israel has always been an exciting and emotional event. In the last half hour or so of the flight, conversation among the passengers slowly ceases. Everyone is immersed in their own thoughts and feelings. Once you get closer, at night, the shoreline is easy to detect, outlined with bright yellow lights from north to south; in the day, fog or low clouds sometimes obscure the view until you are almost on top of it. From above, ironically, Tel Aviv seems so orderly and organized—the epitome of what Theodore Herzl thought of when he wrote about the rebirth of a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland. Sometimes the plane descends directly into Ben Gurion airport. Other times it flies further east, over the Judea Mountains, and circles back for the landing. By now the silence in the plane is complete. Then, as the plane touches down, applause breaks out spontaneously throughout the cabin.

The applause discloses relief at the safe landing after a long flight. But it also comes from somewhere deeper, inside one’s heart and soul. It’s a surge of joy combined with tears, the indescribable feeling one gets when hope and ancient prayers are fulfilled. Elie Wiesel wrote, “One doesn’t go to Jerusalem, one returns to it.” Whether it’s one’s first trip to Israel or one hundredth, it’s always a homecoming.

For me, of course, flying to Israel has always been a homecoming. Israel always was, and always will be, my home. I was born there, I lived there, I served in the IDF, and even after many years in the US, returning to Israel meant seeing my family.

But things were different when I was there in May. My mother, z”l, wasn’t waiting for me at the airport. My trip this time would be short—ten days instead of the usual month or so. There was a special purpose to this particular trip: my grand-nephew’s bar mitzvah. Ours is a small family. The Shoah left only a small fraction of what had once been—and now was no more. And so we, the remnants, have been there for each other at almost every event—joyous or sad. This time the trip held mixed emotions for me.

This time there was no applause as the plane landed. I’m sure we all felt the usual relief, but mixed in with all our other emotions was the sad—and frightening—knowledge that Israel was at war. The heaviness was palpable.

By that time the war had lasted already seven months. Of course, we couldn’t know that, as of today, almost exactly one year since the war began, it would still be going on.

Nothing could have prepared us for the shock and brutality with which this war started, the October 7 attack from Gaza; or the pain and tragedies of the hostages and their families; or the suffering among the innocent Gaza civilians whom Hamas uses as human shields. Only those living day after day, week after week, month after month, through these horrors can understand the tragedy and scale of this terrible war. 

What none of us, anywhere in the world, could foresee, was not the almost-immediate worldwide condemnation of Israel defending itself—that we’re pretty much used to by now—but rather the extent and virulence of the antisemitism that erupted shortly after the war began.

Only a few days ago the FBI released a report registering a 21% rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes over last year. Since October 7, 67% of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes were directed against Jews—a people that in the US numbers less than 2.4% of the general population.

Directly or indirectly, consciously or not, we are all affected by the poisonous character of this hatred that we witness on college campuses, in the news, over the internet, and at political rallies and demonstrations. Even in K-12 schools, Jewish students—our children, grandchildren, our future! —have been harassed and attacked.

Since October 7, we have seen synagogues torched; businesses trashed and vandalized; Jews wearing kippot or Jewish stars, or speaking Hebrew, physically assaulted. While some of the perpetrators claimed to be moved by pro-Palestinian or pro-Gaza sentiments, many blatantly expressed antisemitic tropes, modern-day variants of the blood libel.

Jews have long been wary of right-wing antisemitism. The evidence there is abounding. But what—for me at least—has been the most shocking revelation of all is the surge of this most ancient hatred among liberals, the “woke” and the so-called “progressives.” 

Historically, Jews have been among the most active supporters of liberal causes. All of a sudden, we find ourselves ostracized and even locked out by groups that in the past we’ve lived—and died—for: Black Lives Matter; LGBTQ; climate activists, and feminist movements that remained notoriously silent for the longest time, even in the face of hard evidence, of the horrifying, gender-based violence perpetrated against Jewish women and men by the Hamas terrorists on October 7.

While we are seeing some corrective measures in some city governments and on some colleges (definitely not all), there’s still a long way to go before we return to a more “normal” situation. However, until then, we cannot remain silent. There’s much we need to do to counter this dangerous trend.

First of all, we need to discover the strength that lies within us. Physically, emotionally and spiritually, we need to be there, as strong and resilient as possible, both for ourselves and for our families. 

For our own sake and for our children’s benefit, we need to study the facts, to learn about the history of Zionism and how the State of Israel came to be. We need to know what to say when confronted by haters, and be able to answer the false, and evil, accusations of Israeli apartheid and genocide. 

And we also need to be there for—and with—the rest of our community. Since our earliest days as a people we’ve recognized our uniqueness among the nations: “A people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations” (Num. 23:9, NKJV). History has shown this to be true. We go by many names that identify us as members of any other nations and traditions. We call ourselves American Jews, French Jews, Iraqi Jews, and so many more. Here we are “JewishColorado.” Throughout our history, our rights may have been taken away, trampled, constrained, or restored again. The one marker we never lost however, is our identity as Jews—embedded in our souls, stamped into our passports, clothes and even our skin. At a time like today, we must turn to one another for support. We may have our political and cultural differences. We may call ourselves religionists, atheists or agnostic. We even argue about the right way of cooking traditional foods. Yet one thing is indisputable: We are Jews, members of an ancient people going back more than 3600 years. One of the chief goals of antisemitism is the erasure of Jewish identity and history. For us, cancel culture is as dangerous as any ghetto or edict of intolerance. We must never again allow that to happen. Our congregations and synagogues must be more than only houses of worship. In Hebrew, they are call batei k’nesset, essentially community centers, where we can not only pray, but also study and celebrate our rich heritage, where we can safely gather and discuss our concerns and fears, and learn how best to handle them.

We must never again allow ourselves to hide or cower in fear. Today, thankfully, we have law-enforcement agencies that can help us stand up to the dangers and threats. The FBI and CIA work closely with Jewish organizations such as the ADL, the AJC—American Jewish Committee—and the Secure Community Network, the official security and safety institution of the Jewish community in North America. Sharp-as-a-tack organizations such as StandWithUs help fight antisemitism on a more local and even personal level, in schools and the workplace. Hillel and Faculty Against Antisemitism are among several groups that address antisemitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses. Additionally, various media-watch groups scrutinize the Internet and other news outlets, calling for corrections whenever and wherever misleading and erroneous information is found.

Of course we can also counter the lies and misinformation ourselves, by becoming active in local government and by serving on school boards, where decisions are made about which textbooks to use and whose “narrative” to teach. 

Today the Jewish community in the United States and elsewhere around the world is at an important historical juncture. Every one of us needs to make difficult decisions as we weigh our traditional social and political alliances against the need to remain proud, visible and valued members of society. While holding on to our ideals, it’s crucial that we support groups and individuals that support us, and call out those that oppose us. 

Israel has been at war for an entire year now. As Jews we’ve been defining and defending our Jewish identity for almost 4000 years. We will overcome the current outbreak of Jew-hatred too. The question is, where will our help come from. The truth is, it will come from many sources. Traditionally, our strength has always come from God and our faith. Thankfully, we also have many friends and allies around the globe and across the political spectrum. But for the first time in almost 2000 years, we—you and I—are privileged to have a say in it too. Our strength comes from inside each of us: In our determination to defend our heritage and identity, and in our resolve to stand up to those who wish to destroy us and and our historic national homeland.  

Thousands of years ago, the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, "Do not fear, O My servant Jacob… nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I [Adonai] will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity" (Jer. 30:10, NKJV). Today, more than three and a half thousand years after these words were written, we know this to be a truth. 

So, chazak chazak v’nit’chazek—be strong, be of good courage, and together we shall be strengthened. Am Yisrael Chai—the People of Israel yet lives!

L’shana tova, may 5785 be a year of growth, health, love and peace, and may God bless us all.

© 2024 by Boaz D. Heilman

To Be a Blessing: Rosh Hashana Eve Sermon.24

To Be a Blessing

Erev Rosh Ha-Shanah Sermon

Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

September 2, 2024

At a certain rehab facility, two men were assigned to the same room, and they soon became friends. After all, when your eyes are bandaged or your heart works erratically at best, when life’s distractions are kept far outside your door, when the TV only gives you football and world news and the only visitors you get are doctors and nurses who check on you periodically, poke you, sponge bathe you and administer your meds, there’s not a whole lot else to do but get to know your neighbor better. 

Every morning the man whose eyes were bandaged would ask his neighbor what he saw outside the window at his bedside. “It’s raining,” the other would answer, or “the mountains are particularly clear today.” He would describe the traffic outside the facility, and even what the campus across the highway looked like on any particular day. “Must be homecoming,” he said one day as he related the crowded presence of students and parents in the main quad. The sound of the band practicing on the football field wafted in, and they both agreed that it would be so good to be out there, mingling with the crowd, enjoying the cool fall temps after the long, hot summer.

But one day, the description from the man who lay across the room stopped. The man with the bandaged eyes called out his name, but there was no answer. When the nurse came in, he asked about the man and why he didn’t answer. “Oh,” came the answer, “he passed away.”

“Oh!” the bandaged man cried out in obvious pain. “That is so sad! We became friends. He would tell me every morning what he saw outside his window—the weather, the traffic, everything!”

“He did??” asked the nurse incredulously. 

“I can’t see anymore, and he was my connection to the outside.”

“But…” the nurse stammered, “he couldn’t have!”

“Why not?”

“Because there is no window at his bedside. Just a wall.”

Taking this information in, the blind man lay there in silence for a few minutes. Not long after, the family of the man who had died came in to collect his belongings. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said to them. “But why did he lie to me?”

“He didn’t lie,” they responded. “You see, he was blind too, just like you. He was blinded in a work accident years ago. But he never let that stop him from imagining. In his mind he saw everything that he remembered from his past, and he made it live again. And then he would relate it to anyone who would listen. He rebuilt his own beautiful past from memory, and kept all of it alive in his mind. And that way, he gave all of us, too, hope and purpose. He inspired us, and often asked us to help him in his efforts to rebuild. And so we did. We donated to the city’s parks and recreation department. We helped build a playground in the park across from us and planted trees around it. We supported the college he went to, and always took him to the homecoming game. It was his way of telling us never to give up hope, to continue making the world better.”

The blind man lay quietly. “He turned his memories into blessings,” he said after a few moments. “He did,” the family agreed. Then they collected their father’s belongings and left, promising to come visit soon and often again.

I’ve always been struck with this story (and I am sorry--I cannot find its source, I hope they will forgive my using it in this sermon). No matter how many times I read it, it has never failed to move me. 

And through the years, it has helped me chart and understand the many ways we use the word blessing. Sometimes we fall into the trap of using it almost casually, as when life, a coincidence or some random event works in our favor. In a more secular setting, when we say of a particular project that it had “the blessing of the authorities,” what we are actually saying is that it got the approval of the individual or committee in charge. 

In Hebrew, the word b’racha always carries religious overtones. Judaism teaches that blessings are the bridge that connects us with God. In fact, the ancient Rabbis instruct that we should say a minimum of 100 blessings every day, reminding us that we should take nothing for granted. And so we say a blessing when we rise in the morning and when we go to bed at night, and at every moment in between. It isn’t only God Who sanctifies us—we sanctify God in return through the blessings we say and the gratitude we express.

With some blessings we actually participate, and in a small way even become partners with God. While fruit can be easily plucked from a tree, and the blessing is therefore simple and direct, the prayer we say when we break bread, Ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz, (“who brings bread forth from the ground”) is much more complex. Ha-motzi, as we know it, comprises not only our gratitude for the wheat, that does grow from the ground (no small miracle in itself), but additionally this b’racha also recognizes our role in this process—the work involved in sowing and harvesting, milling, grinding and finally baking the flour into bread.

Blessings bring holiness—and a measure of eternity—into our lives. They are like a river, with a source and a goal. The mightiest river may start as a trickle, but along its path it gathers power and strength. We can cross or navigate it. But we’ve also learned to control a river’s force and channel its course. And we can use it for any number of purposes—to provide water for ourselves or our animals; to irrigate fields and crops; to produce electricity; or even just to refresh and restore ourselves physically, emotionally or spiritually. Without water, nothing would live, and the earth would shrink into nothingness. So too with blessings.

The Torah gives us an example of the highest form that a blessing can take. In parashat Lech L’cha (“Go forth”), one of the early portions in the first book of the Torah, Genesis, God commands Abram to leave his homeland and go to a new land, which God will show him. There, God promises, “I will make you a great nation and you shall be a blessing.” Rashi, the great Jewish-French commentator of the 11th century, explains this verse as follows: “You shall be a blessing: Blessings are entrusted to you; until now they were in My power—I blessed Adam and Noah—but from now on you shall bless whomsoever you wish.” 

God empowers Abram—and us, Abraham’s followers—to become, if not a source, then at least conduits of blessings.

When we take upon ourselves the mitzvot—the commandments—of pursuing justice; of teaching our children or students ethics and morality; when we say a kind word or extend a helping hand, we follow Abraham’s lead. There’s even a blessing we say when we comfort the bereaved, “May the memory of your loved one be a blessing,” by which we share our faith and hope that grief at some point will turn to gratitude. In time we learn to draw inspiration from our loved one’s victories and even from their failures. Through the memories left to us, we become better people, and we inspire others to follow us. The memories indeed become a blessing.

An Israeli sculptor who recently posted pictures of his work online evoked this reaction from one of his followers: “The soul of an artist never ceases to amaze me—to see what some would call junk and, through your artist eyes, to see what it can and must be: that moves me more than anything else.” 

To see what is, and then imagine and create what it can and must be, that is the real message of Rosh Ha-Shanah. 

A greeting for the New Year, found in a piyyut—a religious poem—that is recited in many congregations on Rosh Ha-Shanah Eve is, “May this year and its curses end soon, may the new year bring us blessings instead.” This saying is particularly relevant tonight. The past year presented us, individually and collectively, with tremendous challenges. What we must find now, in the year that begins tonight, is the strength to turn these challenges into successes. The curses into blessings. 

We do so by following the teaching and law that we took upon ourselves thousands of years ago: to be a blessing. If not a source of blessing, recognition reserved to only a handful of the most righteous among us every few generations, then at least a participant in its course, something each of us is capable of being. Blessings and mitzvot—the sacred commandments—are more than a way of connecting with God. They help make the world better, especially during dark times. Each kind word or good deed brings light in, no matter how small and insignificant it seems to us at the moment. Like a river, the blessings grow and flourish.

In this new year, may recognition of the many gifts in our lives stir us to speak words of gratitude. May the world’s brokenness inspire us to participate in tikkun olam—repair and redemption. May we continue our sacred work of making the dreams and visions of our prophets come real. And may we, like Abraham, be a blessing for all that was, is, and that can yet be. 

L’shanah tova tikatevu—may our deeds and words be inscribed in the Book of Life, and may we be remembered and blessed for a sweet, happy and healthy New Year. Amen.

© 2024 by Boaz D. Heilman